49C8.Com - Slow Month of Progress...

rambos_ride

It's seems like hardly any progress is getting done on the car this month. I have been spending time looking for programming work (you know...food on the table and parts for the Hudson...) also getting caught up on yard work I put off this summer...Hmmm...Work on the Hudson or do yard work?...the Hudson won!



I got a little crazy and spent a couple of days upside down and cut and scraped all the old sealer and undercoating from under the dash and down to the floorboards.



Now the entire car inside and out has now been scraped of undercoating and seal - except for the rear wheel wells. Since I don't have a rotisserie - I don't feel like sticking my head inside there with a propane torch and scraper! I like the smell of burning rubber - but not undercoating!



Besides the Rear wheel wells (tire side) are just going to get undercoated again so when I do burn outs I won't hear rocks hitting metal



With the sealer gone I started cutting out my front floor pans to put those nice new repops in from Ken Amman. Unfortunately I had to do a couple of spots of rust repair before welding in the new pans.



Anyway - The website has been updated with pictures from the last couple of weeks and here is a snippet...

Peace



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mars55

What are those do-hickies with the wing-nuts that are holding the panel on in the 4th picture. They look really useful.

rambos_ride

mars55 wrote:

What are those do-hickies with the wing-nuts that are holding the panel on in the 4th picture. They look really useful.

Those are panel clamps or more affectionatly called butt-weld clamps They will hold the panel at .040 distance - perfect for tacking patch panels -where an overlap of sheet metal is not appropriate.



Normally I just use welding magnets to hold the pieces at approx. .040 distance for butt-welding - but these come in handy from time to time - and are a nice addition to the toolbox.

I got mine at my local Harbor Freight Tool Store - I believe it was an 8 pack for something like 5.00 - cheap!



http://www.harborfreight.com/



The only other place I've seen these is Eastwood tools - Intergrip Panel Clamps - sit down for this - 4 pack 29.00! :eek: They must be gold plated or made from titanium!



http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1159&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=panel+clamps



There is a guy on ebay selling a 4 pack from eastwood right now...



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Intergrip-Automotive-Restoration-Panel-Clamps_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35625QQitemZ4579812511QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW



But now everyone will want them! I would try Harbor Frieght (I couldn't find them online at HF - if you don't have one locally - you can call them to find out the part #)



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mars55

They were available at my local Harbor Freight store Item 44751 for $4.99. They don't seem to be available on-line.

rambos_ride

mars55 wrote:

They were available at my local Harbor Freight store Item 44751 for $4.99. They don't seem to be available on-line.

Awesome! I have bought several things from Harbor Frieght - they are a discount chain - but for the items I purchased I've been reasonably happy with the quality for the price. I have found that because they carry so many differing items that not everything in the stores are available online and vice-versa not everything online is at the stores.



I can't figure out what is going on with Eastwood Tools - They are definetely higher end - and I have bought items from them in the past but the price difference on this 1 item is astounding!



5.00 is sweet for a set of neat little clamps!



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Unknown

wow...



I still am amazed looking at the progress of this thing, regardless of it being a slow month or not!



I guess my thoughts are that it is ashamed that this is not a convertible. The work and effort on this, you should have the rewards of a convertible! Ultimately, you will end up with a very admirable ride, and I am sure it will be cool when it is done.



My take on eastwood is this.... The store is fairly close to me, maybe 40 miles, I think they are good for a few items mainly specialty stuff, gas tank sealer, for one, but man oh man, are their prices rediculous or what?????



After seeing the welding you have done, makes me think. I got to learn to weld!

rambos_ride

hudsonkid wrote:

wow...



I still am amazed looking at the progress of this thing, regardless of it being a slow month or not!



I guess my thoughts are that it is ashamed that this is not a convertible. The work and effort on this, you should have the rewards of a convertible! Ultimately, you will end up with a very admirable ride, and I am sure it will be cool when it is done.



My take on eastwood is this.... The store is fairly close to me, maybe 40 miles, I think they are good for a few items mainly specialty stuff, gas tank sealer, for one, but man oh man, are their prices rediculous or what?????



After seeing the welding you have done, makes me think. I got to learn to weld!

Thanks for the kind words!



I would love to see a convert in the stable someday! I've never liked 4door cars but I bought this car with a specific goal in mind. I wanted lots of room and a place to throw the dog on long trips! My goal next summer is to go on the Hot Rod power tour and take a trip down the west coast to promote my nutritional analysis website - I think the car will get a lot of attention!



Welding is an art and I would be the first to say I got a long way to go!



Basic MIG welding is pretty simple - it's much like pouring the weld out of the nozzle. I pretty much just self taught myself to weld as I've never taken any courses or read any books on welding - but that is something I'd like to do sometime! I want to take some courses on TIG welding and learn to do aluminum.



Right now I'm making some stainless steel camera housings for my side view cameras and am adding a detail similar to the triangle on the hood ornament. The mounts will look like mirrors - but house a camera. The cool thing is all I have to do is change the steel wire on the Miller 135 to a stainless spool since the argon/co2 mix works with stainless as well as the steel!



Thanks again for your comments - helps keep me motivated - now if I can get over this darn cold!



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mars55

I think Eastwood must primarily sell to business. In my experience, tool companies that sell to business have outrageous markups. Why, because the person filling out the purchase request isn't spending his money. So he not going spend his time looking for the best price and Purchasing faced with a $10,000 purchase order isn't going to worry about a 30 dollar set of clamps.